Naver clinches $1.5 bil. AI computing deal with US firm

The Korea Times - Nov 12, 2026

Naver has signed a 2 trillion-won ($1.5 billion) computing services supply contract with a U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) inference company, securing an initial customer for its AI infrastructure business ahead of the commercial launch planned in the first half of next year. “This is a meaningful contract that confirms actual market demand and the initial commercial viability of the AI factory business,” CEO Choi Soo-yeon said during the company's third-quarter earnings call Thursday. "Revenue is also expected to be generated sequentially as commercial services begin in the first half of next year." AI factory is Nvidia's term referring to next-generation data centers generating tokens. The contract covers computing services involving next-generation graphics processing units (GPUs), with the initial supply scheduled for 2027. Naver is developing its AI factory business in partnership with the Canadian asset manager Brookfield and U.S. chipmaker Nvidia. It plans to expand capacity from an initial 55 megawatts next year to 200 megawatts by 2028. The company said it had secured cont

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CHA Bio Group head outlines vision for stem cells to fight diseases, extend life

Nov 12, 2026

CHA Bio Group head outlines vision for stem cells to fight diseases, extend life

Dr. Cha Kwang-yul, head of the CHA Global Research Institutes at CHA Medical Center and CHA Bio Group, outlined an ambitious vision to use stem cells to treat intractable diseases and potentially extend human lifespan, drawing global interest at an international conference in Busan. Cha delivered his keynote address, titled "Longevity and Reproductive Aging Using K-Cells," at the 16th World Congress of the International Society for Immunology of Reproduction, held Nov. 5-8, with about 400 participants attending. The presentation focused on K-Cell, a proposed cell resource intended to support the development of treatments for intractable diseases before expanding into research on aging and longevity. Cha outlined a donor-screening strategy that combines medical and infectious disease histories with age, clinical characteristics, three generations of family medical history and whole-genome sequencing to identify cells suited to specific therapeutic purposes. He also discussed genetic modification and somatic cell nuclear transfer, a technique that involves transferring the nucleus of a sel

Samsung turns everyday spending into community giving with new charity program

Nov 12, 2026

Samsung turns everyday spending into community giving with new charity program

Samsung is turning everyday purchases near its workplaces into support for vulnerable children, bringing local businesses, employees and labor representatives together in a community-giving initiative that links commercial activity with social welfare. The company held its 2026 Sharing Day event Thursday at DSR Tower, its semiconductor complex in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, wrapping up a two-week Sharing Week campaign and holding the first donation ceremony for its Sharing Stores program. More than 108,000 employees from 23 Samsung affiliates participated in donations, blood drives and volunteer activities during the campaign, which began Nov. 2. Under Sharing Stores, restaurants and cafes near Samsung workplaces donate part of their sales to support children and teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds when employees patronize participating businesses. The program now operates at 22 workplaces across 17 Samsung affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Display and Samsung SDI, with 370 local businesses participating. Samsung also raised 300 million wo

LG CNS brings global robotics experts together to advance physical AI

Nov 12, 2026

LG CNS brings global robotics experts together to advance physical AI

LG CNS brought together more than 100 researchers and industry professionals to explore how physical artificial intelligence (AI) can move beyond laboratories and into factories, warehouses and other industrial settings. The company recently hosted its 2026 Robotics & Physical AI Forum at its Future Robotics Lab headquarters in Magok, Seoul, with participants including faculty members, graduate students and company employees from the University of Toronto, Sogang University, Chung-Ang University and Korea University. Discussions focused on advances in robot foundation models, data, intelligent robotic hardware and simulation, as well as technical challenges involved in deploying physical AI in real-world operations. Drawing on more than two decades of experience and over 1,000 smart factory and smart logistics projects, LG CNS presented its approach to bringing robotics technologies into industrial environments. The company also introduced two platforms launched this year: PhysicalWorks Forge, a robot-learning platform, and PhysicalWorks Baton, an agentic AI-based platform for robot oper

KEPCO Q3 net plunges 78% on higher fuel costs

Nov 12, 2026

KEPCO Q3 net plunges 78% on higher fuel costs

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Thursday its third-quarter net profit plunged 78 percent from a year earlier due to higher fuel costs. Net profit for the three months ended in September fell to 835.89 billion won from 3.79 trillion won in the same period last year, the company said in a press release. "Electricity sales declined, while global thermal coal prices continued to rise in the third quarter, weighing on our bottom line, among other factors," a company spokesperson said. Combined fuel costs for KEPCO's power-generating subsidiaries, including Korea South-East Power, exceeded 2.2 trillion won in the third quarter, weighing on earnings, the company said. Operating profit plunged 70.9 percent to 1.64 trillion won from 5.65 trillion won during the same period, while sales fell 2.6 percent to 26.85 trillion won from 27.57 trillion won. KEPCO said it would closely monitor volatile energy prices while maintaining an emergency management system focused on improving its financial position through cost reductions and profitability-driven operations. The company has bee

KakaoBank simplifies banking for foreign residents with mobile account service

Nov 12, 2026

KakaoBank simplifies banking for foreign residents with mobile account service

KakaoBank’s account service for foreign residents attracted 20,000 accounts in its first month, drawing customers from 124 countries, the bank said Thursday. Introduced in October, the account is available to foreign residents aged 19 and older and can be opened through the bank’s app in about five minutes. Customers can also apply for debit cards and send money overseas through the app without visiting a branch. The bank streamlines registration through the government’s Public MyData service, which retrieves personal details such as names, nationalities, addresses and occupations. The service allows users to access their administrative records held by public institutions or request that those records be shared with third parties. Applicants can also submit required documents, including employment certificates and pay statements, directly through the app. Myanmar nationals accounted for the largest share of account holders at 30.3 percent, followed by Chinese nationals at 18 percent, Vietnamese at 16.6 percent, Thai at 4.8 percent and Japanese at 4.6 percent. By purpose of stay, int

Korea Zinc loses court battle over curbs on Young Poong's voting rights

Nov 12, 2026

Korea Zinc loses court battle over curbs on Young Poong's voting rights

A court ruled Thursday that a resolution passed at Korea Zinc's annual shareholder meeting last year that restricted the voting rights of Young Poong Corp. and private equity firm MBK Partners Ltd. must be nullified. Young Poong and MBK formed an alliance under an agreement signed in September 2024 to secure management control of Korea Zinc, the world's largest refined zinc smelter. Since then, the two parties have jointly exercised their voting rights, prompting Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-beom to wage a protracted battle to fend off their takeover bid. The Seoul Central District Court ordered Korea Zinc to revoke the resolution adopted at its March 2025 shareholder meeting in a lawsuit filed by the Young Poong-MBK alliance. The court said that Korea Zinc cannot restrict the voting rights of existing shareholders by invoking rules governing cross-shareholdings as a means of defending its management control. It did not provide further details. Choi's side had orchestrated a move for Sun Metals Corp. (SMC), a second-tier subsidiary of Korea Zinc, to acquire a stake greater than 10 percen

Jensen Huang's potential exit casts shadow over Korea's AI road map

Nov 12, 2026

Jensen Huang's potential exit casts shadow over Korea's AI road map

Mounting uncertainties surrounding Nvidia are threatening to disrupt Korea's semiconductor industry and its broader artificial intelligence (AI) road maps, as U.S. semiconductor restrictions are likely to be tightened and the future of its beleaguered CEO Jensen Huang is unclear. Following Huang's admission of an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, U.S. lawmakers have stepped up calls for tighter restrictions on China's access to U.S.-made AI chips. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday (local time) called on Congress to pass three acts tightening export controls on advanced AI chips. “This alarming situation makes clear that Congress must now act to pass critical bipartisan legislation like the AI Overwatch Act, the MATCH Act and Chip Security Act to cut off China's access to advanced American technology before it's too late," Schumer said during a Senate floor speech. The AI Overwatch Act is aimed at allowing Congress to block advanced AI chip exports to U.S. foreign adversaries. The Chip Security Act will require AI chips subject to export controls to have a “location

Korean tech firms tighten security training amid industrial espionage concerns

Nov 12, 2026

Korean tech firms tighten security training amid industrial espionage concerns

Major tech-intensive firms here are stepping up internal security training and vigilance against industrial espionage, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made headlines for his reported affair with Alice Huang, who is suspected of being linked to Chinese intelligence. The allegations have heightened concerns among technology companies that personal relationships and social interactions could be exploited to compromise sensitive corporate information. Major U.S. technology companies, including OpenAI, have also been strengthening counterintelligence training for employees. Some companies have reportedly advised workers to take precautions in their daily lives, including avoiding wearing clothing with company logos outside the workplace. The heightened vigilance is also spreading among Korean semiconductor companies, which handle highly sensitive technologies and intellectual property. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have been strengthening security education for employees, as the importance of advanced semiconductor technologies grows. Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions (DS) division desi

Can tougher reappointment rules curb power of Korea's bank holding company chiefs?

Nov 12, 2026

Can tougher reappointment rules curb power of Korea's bank holding company chiefs?

A corporate governance reform package unveiled by the government to make CEO succession at financial companies more transparent and rein in long-serving chairmen is facing questions over whether it will deliver meaningful changes, experts said Thursday. Their skepticism centers on whether tougher voting requirements will make a difference when incumbent chairmen already enjoy overwhelming shareholder support, and whether independent directors will be able to challenge management in practice. The announcement comes nearly a year after President Lee Jae Myung publicly criticized what he called a “corrupt inner circle” in which a small group of executives takes turns holding control of financial firms. A central aim of the reform is to curb incumbent CEOs’ influence over the selection of their successors. Under the proposed rules, committees responsible for nominating CEO candidates would consist entirely of independent directors. The package also seeks to make repeated reappointments harder at bank holding companies such as KB, Shinhan and Hana. CEO nominations would require approval

City-backed startup summit bolsters Seoul's drive to be global innovation hub

Nov 12, 2026

City-backed startup summit bolsters Seoul's drive to be global innovation hub

Seoul’s annual startup summit, Try Everything 2026, generated more than 2,000 investment reviews and doubled face-to-face investor meetings, bolstering the city’s ambitions to rank among the world's top startup hubs. The two-day global startup festival, held Sept. 9-10 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), attracted 8,025 participants, including 1,457 visitors from 67 countries, and featured 912 startups, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday. The number of participants increased 3.8 percent from 7,729 last year, while startup participation rose 4.2 percent from 875 companies. The event recorded 1,141 one-on-one meetings between startups, investors and major corporations, more than twice the 541 meetings held last year. The amount of potential investment under review reached 202.4 billion won ($140 million), up approximately 12 percent from 2025. Organizers expanded dedicated meeting booths from 15 to 40 and strengthened advance matchmaking to encourage substantive discussions and business partnerships. Held under the theme "AI Changes Everything. Now Try Everything," this year's

KOGAS Q3 net more than triples on equity gains, lower costs

Nov 12, 2026

KOGAS Q3 net more than triples on equity gains, lower costs

Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), Korea's state-run gas utility, said Thursday its third-quarter net profit more than tripled from a year earlier, driven by increased gains from equity investments and lower interest costs. Net profit for the three months ended in September jumped to 272.4 billion won ($204.6 million) from 86.8 billion won in the same period last year, the company said in a press release. "Gains from investments in affiliated companies and lower interest costs on outstanding loans boosted our quarterly bottom line," a company spokesperson said. Operating profit rose 51.1 percent to 587.8 billion won in the third quarter from 388.99 billion won a year ago. Sales climbed 17.8 percent to 7.5 trillion won from 6.37 trillion won. The company attributed its improved operating performance to increased earnings from a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Canada, in which KOGAS holds a stake, and a gas exploration project in Mozambique. For the first nine months of the year, net profit more than doubled to 1.16 trillion won from 539.09 billion won in the year-ago period. Operating profit r

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